The title sounds rather… shocking. Calling something real charity—is that not implicitly calling other charitable activities… fake charity?
But that is not what it means. It simply means that when doing charity, we care about real value and real results, and if we can also measure social impact, all the better. That is all!
There are 4 ways to do charity.
The first way is to “Give people a Fish.” When Central Vietnam's residents face floods, we mobilize instant noodles, medicine, clothing… and send them. Many criticize this approach as unsustainable. Yet when someone is about to starve, you cannot stand there… teaching them to fish; you must give them a fish immediately (if that fish is what they truly need). This approach still has its own value and meaning.
The second way is to “Give people a Fishing Rod.” Now the charity's beneficiaries receive not a fish, but a means of fishing—a tool for making a living. For example, poor people receive sewing machines and gain a livelihood. Or a CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) program shares product revenue with an education-promotion fund, thereby awarding tens of thousands of scholarships and building dozens of schools for poor children. In another charity project, organizers discovered children in remote areas were dropping out because they had to walk tens of kilometers to school. They mobilized resources and gave thousands of new bicycles to children, making school easier to reach. A bicycle is a means of getting to school, but also a tool for conveying faith: there are still people in the world who care about you, so trust, study earnestly, become useful people, and later return to help others who are like you once were…
So sometimes people have fishing rods but lack fishing skills. This gave rise to the 3rd level of charity: “Teach people to fish.” Give people knowledge and skills to escape poverty. Investing in people is the most valuable investment.
Well, if someone has a fishing rod, fishing skills, and knowledge of where the fish are, but lacks… the Motivation to fish, they will still lie at home all day, depend on society, take no action, and therefore remain unable to escape poverty. Because they lack will and determination. So there is a 4th approach to charity: “Give people the Motivation to fish.” This usually belongs to Education's responsibility to transform human consciousness. Education is very important, because trying to change society without transforming people is like trying to retrieve the moon from the bottom of a well.
During my recent 3-day trip to Buôn Ma Thuột, I had the good fortune to participate in charitable activities of types 2, 3, and 4.
The 2nd charitable approach—Give a Fishing Rod: Mentioning the Central Highlands means mentioning coffee. Coffee farmers in this region receive good-quality seeds and seedlings to propagate themselves and replant areas of aging coffee trees.
The 3rd charitable approach—Teach How to Fish: Farmers receive technical training based on the international 4C code for sustainable coffee production, processing, and trading. They are also trained to participate in optimal coffee intercropping models. With crops such as pepper, durian, and avocado… farmers can optimize land use, increase income, and improve ecological diversity.
The 4th charitable approach—Give the Motivation to Fish: Free support services for farmers are also provided, including technical training and expertise in sustainable coffee cultivation, harvesting and post-harvest practices, water-saving irrigation, and making microbial fertilizer from coffee husks… Throughout, farmers are continually encouraged and their awareness shifted, motivating them to change. A particularly good aspect is the partial influence on farmers' thinking: Turning Farmers into Entrepreneurs. Farmers not only gain high economic returns from coffee but also help protect the environment and save significant water resources for the region.
From my research, I learned this project is called NESCAFÉ Plan. Since 2011, it has helped 21,000 farmers obtain international 4C coffee certification, distributed… 15 million high-yield, disease-resistant coffee seedlings, and trained nearly 150,000 farmers, helping them save 40% of irrigation water and 20% of fertilizer while increasing income by 40%. The project's coffee intercropping model in particular has increased farmers' income by 100% and helped restore farmland.
That is what I learned from surveying farmers and visiting Nescafé's headquarters in Ban Mê Thuột to find out more (which is why I have the figures above, supplied by them). My impression is very positive. This program has a broad, sustainable and meaningful social impact, so I want to introduce it.
Large corporations must take responsibility for their products, and even more for “blockbuster” communications shaping consumers' thinking and awareness every day. But if somewhere there are responsible corporations that understand Win-Win rather than exploitation (Win-Lose), share responsibility with farmers, and help farmers become wealthier, more at ease, and happier, that is something good to spread and learn from.
P.S: Photo of me with the Director of Netsle Ban Mê. I need to ‘hear with my own ears, see with my own eyes, and touch with my own hands,’ so I went from the farmers to the office, meeting everyone from beneficiaries to the managers implementing the program :- )
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